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AFTER all the bad luck of the past few months, Shepshed’s Harry Stafford put in a blinding performance to pick up his first ever MotoGP points at Brno in the Czech Republic on Sunday.

And he had to do it the hard way, coming from 30th on the grid after a dreadful qualifying to finish 13th and collecting three points towards the 125cc championship.

“It felt really good,” the 17-year-old beamed. “I do feel like I should have been up there earlier on but for the bad luck I’ve had.

“I worked hard in the race battling up to the group that was challenging for ninth, so be in the hunt for a top 10 position after my worst ever qualifying position was excellent.

“It started off as a difficult weekend but we ended up turning it around.”

Describing the start as difficult would be an understatement. Harry came off during a wet practice but initially he and his Ongetta-Centro Seta did not think there was anything wrong.

However during practice it was clear there were huge problems with Stafford miles off the pace.

“I kept complaining to the team that I didn’t have much power and that I couldn’t change gears,” he said. “They weren’t sure what the problem was but it turned out that I’d broke the gear selector shaft when I went off.

“With it fixed I showed what I can do.

“Now I’ve just got to keep on working hard to make sure I score points more often.”

Harry made up 17 places to score his first points, finishing just behind the first Brit rider Danny Webb and a much improved 43 seconds behind winner Sandro Cortese.

He will now be hoping to show North America what he can do as he travels to compete in the 125cc race at the famous Indianapolis circuit.

“It’s the first time I will have ever been to America,” he says. “I’ve seen the circuit on TV and it looks really nice so I’m really excited about it.

“It’s going to be a fantastic experience and hopefully I can challenge for points again.”